{"id":848938,"date":"2026-04-02T09:45:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/848938\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T09:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:45:36","slug":"we-finally-know-who-the-dallas-cowboys-are-playing-in-brazil-in-the-2026-nfl-season-and-most-importantly-in-what-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/848938\/","title":{"rendered":"We finally know who the Dallas Cowboys are playing in Brazil in the 2026 NFL season, and most importantly in what week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier in the year, the NFL announced the Dallas Cowboys will play the first-ever game in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now we know their opponent over a month in advance of the schedule release.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Aug
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAug 16, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) warms up before the game at against the Baltimore Ravens AT&T Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much we know about the Dallas Cowboys schedule yet. <\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, it was announced they will head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/a> However, only now we know who their opponent will be. And perhaps most importantly, we have confirmation on when.<\/p>\n

The A to Z Sports NFL mock draft simulator offers a deeply customizable and data-driven experience with never-before-seen features.\u00a0Try the mock draft simulator today<\/a>, before the 2026 NFL Draft arrives!<\/p>\n

Cowboys\u2019 Rio opponent revealed<\/p>\n

The Cowboys will \u201chost\u201d the Baltimore Ravens in Rio, according to Giana Han from The Baltimore Banner.<\/a> <\/p>\n

Additionally, she reported the game will take place in Week 3, which matches a previous report from the Sports Business Journal. According to the latter, it will be a Sunday afternoon game despite previous Brazil games taking place on Friday night. <\/p>\n

The NFL game will be the first ever played in Rio de Janeiro and the first of three in the short-term future as the league continues its efforts for international growth. For the Cowboys, it will be the first international game since they played in London back in 2014. <\/p>\n

Ravens will be a good measuring stick for Dallas<\/p>\n

While we don\u2019t know what the rest of the schedule looks like, getting an early-season matchup against the Ravens should be a good measuring stick. While it\u2019s true Baltimore struggled in 2025, it was mostly due to a historically banged-up defense. <\/p>\n

With Lamar Jackson at the wheel, expect the Ravens to be a tough matchup. Specifically, a big storyline to follow will be the Cowboys\u2019 Christian Parker-led defense against a two-time MVP quarterback. <\/p>\n

After putting together the worst defensive year in franchise history, the Cowboys won\u2019t have it any easy. If they want to prove they\u2019re a different team, this will be a great chance to do so. <\/p>\n

The game will also match two relatively inexperienced head coaches, as second-year HC Brian Schottenheimer will face first-year head coach Jesse Minter. To make things more dramatic, Schottennheimer calls the Cowboys offense and Minter confirmed in January he will call the Ravens defense. <\/p>\n

Week 3 implications<\/p>\n

The Week 3 and Sunday window is significant, as it opens the door for the Cowboys to play the NFL Kickoff on Wednesday in Week 1 as the Seattle Seahawks\u2019 opponents. Before, Brazil games were held in Week 1. <\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unlikely they do so because they opened last season against the then-Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, it\u2019s no secret the NFL views Dallas as a big draw. Considering the game will be on a Wednesday<\/a>, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if the league leans on Dallas\u2019 draw. <\/p>\n

The Cowboys are the only NFL team with three appearances as the away team in the league\u2019s Kickoff game since 2002.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Mar\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys need a linebacker, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer knows it. He also happens to be a big fan of a free agent who could alleviate his team\u2019s problem. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier in the year, the NFL announced the Dallas Cowboys will play the first-ever game in Rio de…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[14410,230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-848938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-brazil","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116334480698577812","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}